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RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!

ORIGINAL: Super08

How did you like the Worldtex? I used it for the first time this year as well. I found with high heat you can stretch it around anything. I hear it does get dirty easy however if it is not clear coated.

I liked the Worldtex for the ease of covering. My covering skills are terrible, soI didn't try to do any fancy stretching. I don't know about how much dirt it will pick up and holdyet. I do have some clear paint on it, a very light coat. I fly from a grass and dirt field, so I hope it is easy to clean.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!

Mine started up and ran great, got 30 min of run time on the ground today. Still have the factory carb settings. Restarts were good, all hand flipping, took four or five times at most. Solid idle at 2K, may go as low as 1,700 but don't want to try that in the air. Don't need to go that low with a 14.5 lb plane anyway. Top RPM was 8,700 with the 18.5x5.5 Vess prop.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!

Did the re-maiden flight today with the new engine and new covering job.

Got 45 min of flying time, no trim adjustments were required, nothing came loose, fell off, or broke so it was a great day. Temps in the low 50's and zero wind.

The Worldtex does pick up and hold dirt and goop from the engine breaking in, but it comes off with Bug and Tar remover from Turtle Wax. Not sure yet if that will do any damage to the pin-stripe tape or paint, but so far so good.

Wow, the prop in the picture sure looks big, but is only an 18.5" prop.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!

Now that I have some runtime on the engine I decided to put on the cowl.

I liked the carb screw guide tubes that Jim made for his plane, but I'm lazy so mine are not as professional. I did put some brass tubes, with hex screw heads, over the crappy screws that come with the Walbro carb; I can never get a screwdriver to stay in those odd slots.

My method of figuring out where the engine cutouts should be made is shown. It usually takes three or four manilla folders to get it right, okay close enough. Got the cowl marked and ready to cut. I always hate making the cowl cutouts for the engine. Don'tknow ofan "easy" way to do that.

Notice that the template is marked "bottom", that is important because if it is flipped over and the cowl is cut with it that way, the muffler stinger holes will not line up right due to the engine offset. I hate it when that happens.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!

I have found a great tool for cutting out the cowls. I had a neighbors RotoZip at my house that I was borrowing for another project but tried it when I was cutting out a cowl. As long as you can support the cowl properly it is a piece of cake. You can make plunge cuts with no issues and it moves through the fiberglass like a hot knife through butta. It's basically nothing but a small sized router. Making perfectly straight lines is hard so I cut a little inside the linesand used a handheld dremel with sander roll to finish it off.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!

If the bit is held 90 degrees to the surface it's cutting, it's a lot harder to control than one layed way over in the direction of the cut. I doubt you'll ever get to the point where you could make a finish cut though? FWIW, -Al

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!

Muttdog and Ahicks,

Took your advice and it worked great. Did some practice cuts on the old cowl first just to get the hang of it. Not holding the tool at 90 degrees helped a lot. Also, not trying to do a finish cut. I always get in a hurry. This job is still not on my top 100 "fun" things to do list.

Anyway, I think the re-cover job is finally done. Cost was $150 to $170, I lost track, but way more expensive than I thought it would be. It may be worth it to look at a finish without all the wrinkles.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!

Hello all, I was wondering if anyone has had success converting one of these to electric? I am thinking of a Hacker A 60 with a cc HV 120 ESC.
10 cells. My biggest problem is going to be where to put the batteries. Don't really want to remove the wings for a batt. change. Anyone have any suggestions? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

RE: New Giant GP Super Sportster!!!!!

I think it would be a great electric powered plane.

It would be easy to make a section of thefuselage withthe canopy removable with some minor kit-bashing. A lot ofus have alreadymoved the gear from the wing to the fuselage.Magnetic latches could be used to holdthe hatchon and make it easy to R&R the batteries.